A Good Steward

Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

• There’s a great scene in the 1st “Thor” movie where Anthony Hopkins (Odin; Thor’s Father & King) tells Chris Hemsworth (Thor) that he is not worthy to be the King of their world.  Through arrogance and stupidity, Thor has opened his world to the horrors of war and worse.  Thor eventually “earns” back his birthright, but it is through much work, pain, and death.  But, it didn’t have to be that way.  The same is true with us and Jesus makes a big promise to us here.  If we are trustworthy with small matters here in this world, He will give us so much more to be trustworthy with in Heaven.  As in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  It’s hard here in this world.  We are tugged, pulled, and torn in so many  directions by immeasurable distractions, it’s difficult to believe that in our flesh we can silence it all and just be with God.  We can’t do it 100% in the flesh; but, “with God all things are possible”.  (Matthew 19:26)  Ask Him to do what only He can do.  We can make it part of the way – living the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23 –  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) is near impossible on our own.  Prayer is the answer and if we stick to His plan, we will reap the eternal rewards with Christ in Heaven.  While we’re never going to “ace” this Earthly exam, we are going to do our best on this test and, like a Good Father, that is all God asks of us.
• How are we coming to God to ask for His help?
• Are we asking God for the Fruits of the Spirit each day?
• Are we praying and studying enough for our “tests”?